The Lorton Perspective: Steve Jobs and the Future of Apple

Apple, Inc. co-founder Steve jobs died of pancreatic cancer yesterday, and the news was discussed today in Lorton. At around 10:00 a.m., Lorton's Bill Stepp held a power discussion with friends at . The subject: the death of Steve Jobs and the future of Apple, Inc. 

Stepp, retired from AT&T, owns no Apple stock. "Jobs was a creative engineer, not a manager. The question I have is: What other products are in the mill aside from the iPhone 5? What's in the pipeline and how are they going to sustain themselves? The thing about new phones these days is that they are obsolete the day you get them."

Lorton's Cecil Henderson sat next to Stepp with an iced latte and disagreed. "Apple investors knew he was sick, they knew it was a big issue. They would have jumped ship, but it didn't happen," he said, adding that he owns an iPod touch and a MacBook.  

Maurice Clarke is the owner of  in Lorton Market, and joined the conversation for a cigarette break. "Apple has been planning for this for a while," he said. "Even the possibility, because Steve Jobs had a unique type of cancer and he had to get radiation in Sweden. Everybody could see how he was diminished. The investors knew he was sick, and what they were investing in."

Stepp said that Apple stock will slide until Jobs' successor is chosen. "Steve Jobs was a creative, brilliant artist. He was not a manager. He never groomed a successor. He never believed he would die. Apple stock is at $413 a share. It's going to take a big hit. Until a leader can come in the shareholders are going to be very unhappy." 

Clarke didn't think so. "You know what I would expect? Client loyalty," he said. "People will just start buying iPhones and iPads because of Steve Jobs. Just look at Michael Jackson. At one time he was in financial trouble, but now, how much is he worth?"